Electromedical apparatus.



R. H. WAPPLER.

ELEGTROMEDIGAL APPARATUS.

APPLIOATION FILED 13150.30, 1907.

Patented Nov. 10, 1908.

ma u nl @ain/06d J ze UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. REINHOLI) H. WAPPLER,OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO-WAPPLE-EEECTRIC CONTROLLEROOMPANY, OFNEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORKC ELEc'rnoimDro-AL APPARATUS.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, REiNHoLD H. WAP- PLER, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at the borough of Manhattan, city, county, and State ofNew York, have invented an Improvement in Electromedical Apparatus, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My invention relates-to an electro medical apparatus andy particularlyto an improvement on the electro medical apparatus shown and describedinLetters Patent No. 581091, granted to me April 20th, 1897, the object ofthe present invention ,being to provide anapparatus whichis not only apole changing, current varyingand sine curve current generator for thepurposes described in the Letters Patent aforesaid, but also anapparatus in which when required, the sinusoidal shunt current employedin the treatment of the patient, may be madel and broken atpredetermiiied intervals, so that while the current increases anddecreases in intensity, it is also intermittently interrupted. l

In carrying out my present invention, I employ a coil, means fortaking asinusoidal shunt current from the said coil, means for interrupting thecurrent and means for operating both the aforesaid means, as will behereinafter more particularly described.

In the drawing, Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved medicalapparatus. Fig. 2 is a plan of the sanie. Fig. 3 is a front elevationand section showing the contact bars and their contacts bearing againstthe surface of the coil and bars by means of which the shunt current istaken from the coil. Fig. 4 is a sectional elevation on line iv, Fig. 2,and Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation through the interrupter wheel andthe spindle by which the same is turned.

Referring particularly to the drawing, designates a base which ispreferably made of metal and'may be supported by and inclosed in a boxor other suitable structure. Together with this base 10, I prefer toemploy a Z shaped frame member, whose upper portion 11 is secured to thebase 10 by means of the screw 111 or otherwise, the central portion 12of the Z shaped member de-` pending froni the base 10, while preferablythe portion 13 of the Z shaped member is parallel with the upper portion11 thereof. I also employ a cylinder, indicated at 15 in Fig. 3, andmade of paper, rubber or other similar insulating material and providedat Specification of Letters Patent.

vApplication filed December 30, 1907. Serial No. 408,554.

,Patented Nov. 1o, laos..

its respective ends with the heads 16, 17, which are also preferablymade of similar insulating material, and on the cylinder 15, a coil ofsuitable wire 18 is wound. The head 16 of the cylinder is provided witha con tact plate 19 .and the head 17 with ka similar contact plate 20;one end 21 of the coil 18 is connected electrically to the contact plate19 by means of the binding screw 22, and the other end 23 of the coil 18is connected to the contact plate 20 by means of the binding screw 24,and the contact plate 19 is provided with a binding post 25 andsimilarly the cont-act plate 20 is provided with a bind ing post 26, thebinding post 25 being eleotrically connected to the Z shaped framemember and the base 10 by means of a wire 27 or otherwise.

On one side of the coil 18, I employ a bar 28 which is connected to therespective cylinder heads 16, 17, by means of screws 29 or otherwise,and extends parallel and also longitudinally with the coil 18. Similarlyon the other side of the coil 18 is a bar 30, which is secured to thelcylinder heads 16, '17, by means of screws 31 or otherwise, and `the bar28 is provided with a shunt circuit 4terminal or binding post28a and thebar 30 with a shunt circuit terminal or binding post 30a, from whichbinding posts the lead wires 29a 31a respectively of the shunt circuitare connected, the bars 28 and 30 being preferably constructed of a goodconducting material.

In the central depending portion 12 of the Z shaped frame member, ashaft 32 is mounted. On this sha 32 andon one side of the dependingportion 12 of the Z shaped frame member, a disk 33, preferably ofinsulating material, is secured and on this shaftJ 32 and on theoppositel side of the portion 12 of the Z shaped frame member, a disk 34and the gear wheel 35 are secured.

36 designates a contact bar or oscillating member which at one end isconnected by a pivot screw 37 to a spacer rod 38 with an interveningwasher 39; the spacer rod 38 passes through an aperture providedtherefor in the extremity of the portion 13 of the Z shaped frame memberand is secured therein by a set screw 40 or otherwise and this spacerrod is preferably made of insulatin material. 41 also designates` a contact ar or oscillating member which by meansof the pivot. screw 42 isconnected at CII one eXtremity to the opposite side of the spacer' rod38 with an intervening washer 43; At its other or upper extremity, thecontact bar 36 is provided with a `pair of -spring contacts 36a, one ofwhich isadapted to bear against the bar 28 and the other against thesurface of the coil 18, and similarly the upper end of the contact bar41 is provided with a pair of spring contacts 41?, one of which isadapted to bear against the bar 30 and the other against the surface ofthe coil 18. The contact bar 36 is connected to the disk wheel 33 bymeans of the connecting rod 44 an'd the contact bar 41 is connected tothe disk wheel 34 by means of the connecting rod 45. i

46 designates a spindle passing at right angles through the base 10 andmounted and adapted to turn in suitable bearings, and on this spindle 46a worm wheel 48 and a bevel gear 49 are secured.

50 designates an interrupter wheel which may be made'of any goodconducting material and in whose periphery' there is a series-of teeth51. The interrupter wheel 50 is adapted to fit over a conical hub 52 onthe upper extremity of the spindle 46 with which this wheel engagesfrictionally and as will hereinafter appear, the size of the teeth 51 onthis interrupter wheel and the extent of the spaces between the same,may be varied to regulate the desired period of interruption of theelectric current through the apparatus and consequently with a givenapparatus, a series of interchangeable interrupter wheels havingdifferent sized teeth, may be provided. I also employ a block ofinsulating material 53 which is secured to the base 10 by means ofscrews 54 or otherwise and suitably connected to this block ofinsulating material, cis a contact plate 55, to which latter a lead wire56, from a suitable source of electricity, may be secured by bindingscrews 57. A spring I contact 58 is also lconnected to the contact plate55 by a screw 59, as shown or otherwise, and this spring contact 58 isadapted at its free. end to bear against the 'toothed periphery of theinterrupter wheel 50. I

may also provide a standard 60 fixed in the block of insulating material54 and pro-l apparatus', I. prefer to vemploy a' spring motor, similarfor instance to those employed in phonographs, graphophones and otherlike instruments, and as show n in the drawing, this-spring motor maycomprise a casing 63 and a shaft 64, on which is also secured a gearwheel 65 and a bevel gear 66,- thebevel gear meshing with thehereinbefore ,named bevel gear 49,-an intermediate shaft soy site end ofthe governor shaft adapted to be engaged by the brake shoes 77 actuatedthrough the. lever pivotally mounted at 76 'and controlled through theaction of the spring 78 by means of the rod 79, which as 'is customaryin motors of thisclass', is used to start and stop the motor as well asto determine the speed thereof when running.

In the hereinbefore described apparatus, the contact plate 55 isconnected to one terminal of a suitable source of electricity by thelead wire 56, while the binding post 26 is connected to the oppositeterminal of the source of electricity by the lead wire 56a and as willbe understood, vprovided the screw 61 is in such a position that thespring 58 will not contact with the teeth of the interrupter wheel 50and the screw 62 in such a position as to contact with'the base or bed10, the electric circuit will be closed through the contact plate 55,the base 10, the current passing through by way of the screw 62, thencethrough the base to the portion 11 of the Z shaped member connected tothe base, by way of the wire 27 to the binding post 25 to the contactplate 19 through thecoil 18 to the contact plate 20 and through thebinding post 26 to the lead wire 56a to the negative terminal of thesource of electrifcity 'and upon the motor being started, the action ofthe apparatus will be as described in my Letters Patent aforesaid; thatis to say, a shunt circuit of varying intensity and changing polarity,the current therein being a sinusoidal curve current, will be closedthrough the patient by means ofvsuitable apparatus inserted thereinbetween the binding posts .28a and 30a, this current being of greatestintensity when the contacts 36a and 41a are at the extremities of thecoil and of little or no current value, as these contact screw 62 in theposition shown in Fig. 4, that is, out of contact With the base l0, thecircuit Will be closed from the contact plate 55- through the spring 58,the interrupter Wheel 50 and thence through the frame of the machine toand through the coil as hereinbefore described, and in so doing, thecur? rent as will be manifest, is intermittently interrupted as thespring 58 passes from tooth to tooth of the interrupter Wheel 50. Theparticular object of thus interrupting the circuit is in order to obtainstronger muscular contractions When these seem desirable in ,thetreatment of the patient It will also be apparent that together With thefunctions hereinbefore described which are made possible by theapparatus herein, that it is also'capable of use in other connectionsWhere 4different purposes are desired to be effected by the use ofelectric currents of a diiferent nature. That is to say, together Withbeing adapted to be employed merelyias a rheostat or asfa sinusoidalcurrent generator, interrupted or non-interrupted, the apparatus mayalso be employed to produce a current in the shunt circuit Which iseither direct and interrupted or non-interrupted; for instance by makingthe terminals of the shunt circuit the binding posts 25 and 26, thecurrent being interrupted or non-interrupted depending upon Whether thescrew 62 is in contact With the base l0 or out of contact With the same.Then again, the ap'- paratus may be used for an undulatingcurrent Whichis positive only and interrupted Ior non-interrupted for instance, bytaking v the shunt' circuit from theterminal 28SL and Vthe binding post26, it being interrupted or non-interrupted as in the ,former casedepending upQn Whether or not the screw 62 is in contact with the base10 or out of contact with the same, and furthermore the apparatus may beemployed to set up an undulating current in the shunt circuit Which isnegative only and this may be eifected by taking the shunt circuit fromthe binding post 28a and binding ipost 25 and in this case as in thoseto which reference has been hereinbefore made,.the current may beinterrupted or non -interrupted depending upon Whether or not the screw62 contacts with the baseA 10.

lI claim as my invention:

l. An electro-medical apparatus comprising a base, a coil, barsextending longitudinally of the said coil, means adapted' to contactelectrically with the said bars and coil,`

disk Wheels, bearings for the same, devices for connecting the said diskWheels respectively With the said contact means, and means for turningthe said disk Wheels to move. the said devices and so actuate the saidcontact means.

2. An,electro medical apparatus comprising a'base, a frame connectedthereto, a coil,

heads therefor, bars connected to the said vand actuating the said meansfor taking a heads therefor, barsl connected` yto the said heads, shuntterminals connected to the said bars, oscillating members, contacts onthe said oscillating members and adapted to contact with the said barsand thesurface of the said coil, a shaft mounted in-the said frame, diskWheelstlxed on the said shaft, connecting rods connecting said diskWheels and oscillating members, and means for rotating the said diskWheels to actuatethe said oscillating members, as and for the purposesde-l scribed.

3. An electro medical apparatus comprising a basera frame connectedthereto, a coil,

heads, shunt terminals connected to the said Y bars, oscillatingmembers, contacts on the said oscillating members and adapted to contactwith the said bars and coil, a shaft mounted in the said frame, diskWheels liXed on the said shaft, connecting rods connecting said diskWheels and oscillating members,

and a spring motor for actuating the parts.

Ll. An electro medical apparatus compris-l ing a coil, means for takinga sinusoidal shunt current\from said coil, an interrupter disk, meansfor completing the electric circuitA and intermittently interrupting thesame through said disk, and means for simultaneously rotating the saidinterrupter' disk 95 sinusoidal shunt current from said coil.

' 5. An electro medical apparatus, comprising a coil, means for taking asinusoidal shunt current from said coil, an interrupter disk, a spindleon which the same is mounted, acontact plate, a spring connectionv fromthe said contact plate to the periphery of the interrupter disk, andmeans for simultaneously rotating the interrupter disk and actuating themeans for taking the sinusoidal,v shunt current from the said coil.

6. An electro medical apparatus comprising a rcoil, means for taking asinusoidal l shunt current from said coil, an interrupter disk, aspindle on Which the same is mounted, a contact plate, a springconnection from the said contact plate to the periphery of theinterrupter disk, means for disconnecting the spring contact from theinterrupterdisk, means for `electrically connecting the said contactplate electrically with the said coil, and means for simultaneouslyrotating the said spindle and interrupter disk and actuating the meansfor taking the sinusoidal current from the said coil.

7. An electro-medical apparatus comprising a base, a frame connectedthereto, a coil, heads therefor, bars connected to said heads, shuntcircuit terminals connected to the said bars, oscillating members,contacts on the said oscillating members and adapted to bear against thesaid bars on the surface of the said coil, a shaft mounted in the saidframe, disk Wheels ixedonthe said shaft, connecting rods connecting thesaid disk Wheels and oscillating members, an interrupter disk, a spindleon which the same is mounted, a

- conta'ctplate, a spring connection `from the said Contact plate to theperiphery of the said interrupter disk and means for simul-V)I taneouslyrotating the said spindle and interrupter disk and for ctuating the saidoscillating members to cause the said con-,I

taets connected therewith to slide over the 10 surface of and betweenthe said bars and coil. Y*

Signed Vby me this 13th day of December,

REINHOLD H. WAPPLER. lVitnesses GEO. T. PINGKNEY, BERTHA M.ALLEN.

